That's What Friends Do or Makai Plants Book One
by dk-joy
Summary: What will Kurama's friends do when they feel his spirit energy weakening? Will they make it in time to save the kitsune? Violence, OOC Hiei, ouchy kitsune, implied shounen ai (if you want it that way)
1. Yusuke Wonders

I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or these characters, I'm just one of many people who wish they did.

Warnings: some cursing, minor alcohol use (once), ouchy kitsunes, OOC Hiei's, violence, implied shounen ai (meant as friendship, but…)

Chapter 1: Yusuke Wonders

Yusuke was reading a book (OK, he was looking at the pictures – it was a girly mag – who reads the articles?), when he felt a tremendous surge of spirit energy. Even his mother Atsuko, in a drunken stupor as usual, said, "what's that?" before shrugging and passing out. The surge only lasted a few seconds, as if someone had gotten extremely mad and then regained control of themselves. It took Yusuke a minute to grasp that it was demonic spirit energy and that it seemed familiar to him.

Realizing suddenly that it was Hiei's ki and knowing how destructive the runt could get when he was pissed, Yusuke decided to investigate. He was the Human World's Spirit Detective, after all! (And besides, the chicks in the mag had smaller tits than Keiko. And Keiko's ass was so…sigh. Back to work.) Yusuke grabbed his jean jacket off of the hook, looked back at his mother, walked back and took the jug of sake away from her, took a swig, spat it out, and threw the bottle away. Now he was ready!

He walked towards the direction in which he had felt Hiei's ki and realized it was near Kurama's house. He decided to hurry – if the fox demon and the fire demon got into a fight, it could cause some real problems for all of them. He walked into the forest and stopped. It was way too quiet. He could feel that something was majorly wrong. He started walking faster, nearly running and stopped mid-stride upon seeing Hiei dead on the ground. At least he thought it was, but Hiei would never wear camouflage clothes, would he?

He turned the demon over and gasped. It looked exactly like Hiei, right down to the white starburst in his black hair. His body was slashed to ribbons with what looked like a whip. Seeing thorns in one of the wounds, Yusuke guessed that it must have been Kurama's rose whip. Thinking the worst, that Kurama had killed Hiei in some petty argument, Yusuke leaned down to touch the ornery little demon's hair and felt something wet. He looked down and laughed his relief. The demon's hair was dyed to look like Hiei's, but it was a poorly done job; it came off at the lightest touch. Still not understanding what was going on, Yusuke continued on warily.

He stopped abruptly upon seeing Hiei sitting in the grass holding a black arrow. Blood dripped from its shaft. Hiei was so absorbed in examining the arrow that he startled when Yusuke said his name softly. Yusuke looked at a nearby tree and saw a familiar head of red hair. Kurama was laying next to the tree, his body turned away and mostly hidden from Yusuke's view. "Well, Kurama and Hiei, what's up?" he asked lightly, smiling at his old friends' oddness.

In the softest, flatest tones he had ever heard from the young fire demon, Hiei said, "Kurama is dead. Or will be within the hour. There's nothing I can do. It's my fault." Then, to Yusuke's horror, a single tear gem rolled down the normally sarcastic demon's face. Yusuke started at this reminder of Hiei's heritage. Hiei was the twin brother of Yukina, an ice apparition. Hiei had been kicked out of his home, a Forbidden Child, simply for being born a fire demon in an ice village.

"Yukina!" Yusuke suddenly burst out, nearly shouting. Hiei kept his dull, dead look until he realized what Yusuke was suggesting. Hope flickered, then died in his bright red eyes. "Yeah, but can we get her here in time?" Hiei asked tonelessly. "You go get her – you're much faster than I am. I'll stay here and watch him," Yusuke said, nodding towards Kurama. Hiei nodded, then walked off. By the time he was out of the clearing he was running. Yusuke chuckled at Hiei's attempt at nonchalance. Then he walked over to Kurama and gasped.

The fox demon was pale and his wide, green eyes were open, staring at nothing. Yusuke thought he was dead until he felt the slightest flicker of ki from the kitsune. He was alive, but barely. He saw a wound just over Kurama's heart, a jagged slash across his stomach, and realized that his hair looked redder than usual. On the back of his head was a large gash. Yusuke looked at the tree and saw a hole around the height that Kurama's heart would be and a bloodstain on the tree from his head wound. He slowly reached for the arrow to see if it would fit the hole in the tree, but stopped a foot away from it.

The arrow seemed to be emitting a strong demonic ki, so strong that Yusuke knew he would not be able to touch it. He guessed that Hiei had only been able to touch it because he was a demon. Then he looked at the kitsune and wondered why Kurama had not simply pulled it out and healed himself. He wondered what could have done so much damage to a demon as strong as Kurama and why he had not simply changed into fox form and run away if he had no chance of winning. Everyone knew that his human form was much weaker and took longer to heal. He had a lot of questions to ask Kurama when he got back to normal. The sudden sense that Kurama's life energy was draining at an alarming rate made him wonder if he'd ever have the answer to those questions.

TBC… 

A/N: Review, please!


	2. Hiei's Mistake

Disclaimer and warnings: first chapter 

This chapter mostly flashback

Chapter 2: Hiei's Mistake 

As Hiei jumped form tree to tree, a mere blur even to humans with abnormally good vision, he thought, "you're not baka, kitsune. I am." Earlier that evening he had been sleeping in the tree outside of Kurama's window, waiting for him to come home so they could train together, when he felt the fox's fighting ki flare. "Baka kitsune," he thought, "you're supposed to fight with me, not some low-level demon." It must be weak if he could not even feel its energy from here, less than a mile away. Hiei sighed and went back to sleep.

After a few minutes, he woke up as he hit the ground. He'd fallen out of the tree with his tossing and turning. He decided to check how Kurama was doing. He located his ki and paused. It seemed weaker, and somehow desperate, like he was losing ki somehow, but Hiei couldn't feel his opponent's ki. "Maybe he is practicing without me, the Forbidden Child," Hiei thought, pouting slightly. "Well let him," he said aloud, "stupid Kurama. I'll train on my own too!" And so he did.

A while later, he sighed and checked Kurama's ki again. He couldn't feel it. He checked again and still couldn't feel it. Hiei started to worry. First his friend's ki had seemed to be weakening, and now he couldn't feel it at all? Panicking, Hiei ripped the ward off of his Jagan eye. The purple eye in the middle of his forehead opened and searched for any sign of Kurama. Finding a trace of his energy a few miles into the forest, Hiei hastened that way. Hiei flickered out of sight, leaping from tree to tree, watching for the red-head. He almost missed him sitting against a tree with his eyes closed.

"What are you doing just sitting there, moron, we're supposed to be train…" he stopped and stared. His friend's face was pale and sweat beaded on his forehead. His chest moved feebly and a red arrow had penetrated his heart, pinning him to the tree. From this close, he could feel his ki, draining slowly. The arrow was turning black.

He watched his dying friend's face a moment before putting one hand on Kurama's right shoulder and grasping the arrow with the other. He pulled as hard as he could, but it did not budge. He yanked a few more times, bracing himself against the tree with his foot, but made no progress. Then he realized that the arrow had a familiar ki: Kurama's. The arrow was draining Kurama's life force, and he couldn't get it out.

He tried to pour some of his ki into Kurama like he had seen Kuwabara do for Yusuke when he was on the brink of death. An invisible force repelled him. His red eyes glowed with fire and his ki flared around him. He pulled back a fist to punch the tree, screaming, then stopped. His ki dropped back to normal as he plopped onto the grass, alternately staring at the arrow and Kurama's face. He started talking to the still form.

"You know, you were the first demon to treat me with kindness. Even my family couldn't stand to look at me. 'Forbidden Child' was whispered with contempt everywhere I went. It surprised me that you, the famous fox thief, allowed me to be in your presence. You worked with me to get the Three Treasures. I thought you would probably kill me after you got your hands on them, but you only wanted the Forlorn Hope. It amazed and surprised me that a demon as old and experienced as you would form such a bond with your human mother that you were willing to die to save her. I thought you were stupid for caring so much about humans, but I thought you were even crazier for caring what happened to me. But I grew to trust you so much that I told you about my sister, Yukina. You were the only one I trusted that much." He kept talking, watching his friend's face, hoping to see a flicker of life.

All of a sudden, he burst out with, "baka kitsune!" he paused. "Maybe I'll tell you all of this when you wake up. No, I will definitely tell you. All you have to do is wake up." He waited, and to his surprise, Kurama's eyes opened. They were bloodshot and unfocused, but he said, "Hiei. I'll train with you later. Right now, I've got…to…sleep." His head started drooping and Hiei yelled, "NO!" Kurama's head slowly lifted. "Nani?" he asked softly, and then gasped in pain, clutching his stomach. Hiei finally noticed the sluggishly bleeding wound stretching across the kitsune's stomach and the large blood stain on the tree trunk where his head had been resting.

"What the Hell happened to you?" Hiei exclaimed. "An ambush…couldn't feel ki…poisoned…got weak…sorry I was…so late." Kurama gasped once and the arrow fell out. His body fell to the side and the black arrow fell in front of him. Hiei picked it up and held it. He gasped at the pain he felt just from holding it and put it down. He reached for it again and did not feel anything. He was still holding it when Yusuke said his name and startled him.

Now he was off to find his twin sister, Yukina to see if she could do something… anything to help Kurama. He flickered through the trees, landing on the roof of his sister's house and entered without knocking, yelling, "Yukina! Help me!"

TBC… 

A/N: Reviews?


	3. Yukina's Help

Warnings and disclaimer on first chapter   
Chapter 3: Yukina's Help 

Yukina was being entertained by Kuwabara's funny faces when Hiei barged in, yelling her name. She hastened to the little fire demon she had always felt a bond with, not knowing why, and cried out in distress at the wild look on his face and the blood on his hands. Hiei looked startled, and, first glancing at them and then wiping his hands, he said, "it's not my blood" very quietly. "Then who…" Yukina started but was interrupted by Hiei's hastened explanation.

"Kurama's hurt. Bad. I don't know what to do. I can't help him. Help me!" "Calm down," she said, then "take me to him. I'll help him if I can. Stay here, Kuwabara." Oddly, Kuwabara just nodded stiffly at this curt dismissal. Yukina and Hiei zoomed off into the night.

They arrived at the tree a few minutes later to find Kurama and Yusuke on the ground. "Yusuke?!" Hiei said, staring. The skinny human opened his eyes, stretched and said "what took you guys so long?" Hiei muttered under his breath while Yukina moved to sit in front of Kurama's unblinking stare. She touched the wound over his heart and tried to channel healing ki into the wound, but instead cried out as she was flung back. Hiei quickly caught her and set her on the ground saying, "I tried that. I don't understand how a barrier that strong could be…"

Hiei and Yusuke looked at each other and groaned. "Kuwabara!" they said in unison. Yukina asked, confused, "what are you boys talking about?" Kuwabara can break any barrier with his spirit sword, even dimensional ones, remember?" "Oh, yeah…" Hiei rushed off toward Yukina's house while Yukina and Yusuke sat staring at Kurama's body. In a very short time, Hiei dropped from a tree carrying a dazed Kuwabara.

"He started following us as soon as we left, and for once, I'm glad" Hiei stated. "Now destroy the barrier before it's too late!" Kuwabara stared stupidly at Kurama's body with a searching look on his face. "Spirit sword!" Kuwabara yelled as he sliced the now-visible barrier down the middle, destroying it and narrowly missing Kurama's head. Yukina smiled at her beloved and knelt beside Kurama again. She put her hands near him and closed her eyes. She sighed. "I can't heal him," she said.

"What do you mean?!" Hiei, Yusuke, and Kuwabara yelled in unison. Yukina sighed, rolled her eyes, and explained. "I don't have enough life energy to give him. I could give him all of mine, die, and he still would not recover." Yusuke piped up, "I'll do it! I've got energy to spare!" and he made his ki flare up to demonstrate. But Yukina shook her head. "He needs another demon's life force. A human's would help in a normal situation, but when he's this drained…"

"I'll do it," Hiei stated. "When I felt his ki weakening, I didn't do anything. If I hadn't watied…" Yukina shook her head and then stopped herself. It could work, but, "you will need to give him half of your life force. You will both be weak for days, even weeks. If you're sure…" "I said I'll do it," Hiei sighed. "Then it's settled. Yusuke, Kuwabara, keep an eye out. If whatever did this comes back, there could be trouble."

"Right!" they nodded to each other and moved off to opposite sides of the clearing, using their eyes and their spiritual awarenesses to try to detect anything odd. Hiei came next to Yukina and she pulled him down beside her. She took his hand, placed it over Kurama's heart, and channeled Hiei's life force into Kurama. Hiei and Kurama gasped. Kurama blinked and looked at Hiei. "What…" and then he screamed as the pain hit his, now Yukina realized, drug-fogged brain.

TBC…

A/N: If ya like, review! I don't have to update, ya know! Bwa, ha, ha!!!


	4. Kurama's Encounter

Warnings and disclaimer first chapter   
Chapter 4: Kurama's Encounter 

Kurama's wounds were healing, but Yukina's awareness of the poison caused it to be neutralized first, so Kurama felt all of the pain of his fatal wounds. Despite her patient's screams, she channeled Hiei's life force into him until Kurama was strong enough to refuse the foreign ki by making a barrier of his own. Kurama stood up slowly, towering over the blue-haired girl and the black-haired boy. He winced at the pain of his still-tender wounds and leaned heavily against the tree, trying to avoid hitting his head or back on the rough bark.

Hiei started to talk, but Kurama silenced him with a shake of his head. He reached inside himself, and, finding his true form, transformed. His red hair lengthened and became a gleaming silver, he grew more than a foot, and his emerald green eyes became a light gold.

Youko Kurama stretched, rubbed his healed wounds, and sighed. "Shuichi's body" he said, refering to his human form, "cannot cope with that kind of fight, but I can. That is why I was sealed away. I thank you all for your help."

"What the Hell happened to you back there?" Hiei asked, "I've never seen you wounded that badly. What did they do to you? Are you all right?" Kurama smiled wanly and said, "Perhaps I should start from the beginning."

"I stayed at school later than usual to work on a project," the fox demon with silver tresses explained to the young fire demon. "When I realized how late it was, nearly the time we agreed to meet to train, I made my excuses to my teammates and left. I changed into this form and started running through the forest, but changed back into Shuichi when I felt a human's spirit energy. I resolved to be more careful and started running at a normal human speed…"

All of a sudden, without any warning, a small form had dropped on Kurama, forcing him to his knees. The small demon leaned down and sliced Kurama's stomach open with a nasty looking dagger dripping a blue liquid. The demon, who looked a lot like Hiei but wore camouflage clothing, was quickly killed by Kurama's rose whip once it lost the element of surprise. He saw its soul detach from the body and fly into the trees to his right.

Kurama, his vision starting to blur, sat down a minute and tried to heal himself with his ki. When it did not work, he tried to turn into his demon form and almost panicked when he realized he couldn't even do that. Then he sighed. He put his hand to the wound, wincing and then smelled his bloody hand. "Blue makai root?" he said, recognizing the scent of the herb called "demon slayer." Wincing again, he realized that they'd used too much. He had to hurry. Good thing he had the antidote. He pulled a seed from his hair. He made it grow rapidly with his ki and took a petal from the orange flower.

TBC…

A/N: I'm planning on making this story a trilogy involving the makai plants. Three are poisons and three are antidotes. They are the colors of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple – sorry no blue violet). Would anyone be interested? Please read and review this.

A special thanks to my boyfriend who reads all my stories (and school papers even when they involve complicated philosophical terms that I barely understand). He's a real sweetie. Let's have a round of applause for James! Yay!

Thanks also to my first reviewer, Kurama's gurl. Don't worry, I wouldn't dream of killing Kurama off. Although he might become TV dead (I'd find some way to bring him back!).

**Sorry for the shortness – didn't want to stop at a bad point (another cliffie.) I hate to bribe people for reviews, but…if you want more soon (as soon as tomorrow) review, please!**


	5. A Second Attack

Warnings and disclaimer first chapter 

Chapter 5: A Second Attack

He was about to put the antidote, an orange flower, into his mouth when a large weight picked him up and threw him into the next clearing. His head slammed into a tree and he blacked out for a minute. Kurama woke up and shook his head. The monster that had no spirit energy looked like a centaur, but was larger and more intelligent than average. Kurama stood up and almost fell down again. He felt weak and wanted nothing more than to just sleep, but he knew that it was only the poison making him feel that way, so he stood up straight. A good side effect of the drug was that he could no longer feel pain, so he shook out his rose whip and fought.

If he had not been slowing down, he may have had a chance to defeat the monster, but he guessed that the poison was intended to make this fight impossible for him to win. He kept fighting, but once he had been slowed down enough, the centaur pulled out a bow and neatly shot Kurama through the heart with a red arrow. The arrow pinned him to the tree he had recently hit. The monster laughed and snarled in a deep, harsh voice.

"With you gone, it will be far easier to kill the Spirit Detective and his other friends. Without your antidotes to save them from my poisons, they will all die in no time!"

He laughed some more and added, " I'll kill them all, one by one, and nail them to that tree so you won't die alone, Kurama!"

With that, Kurama passed out, happy not to have to think of what would soon happen to his friends…

After finishing his story, Yoko Kurama sighed, "I'm glad he has not made good on his promise yet. I think we may have a small repreive, but no one should…go anywhere…alone…" he said with increasing pain and weariness, finally falling into a deep sleep while changing into his red-headed human form. Hiei started to get up, faltered, and sat back down again.

"Maybe Kurama has the right idea…" he said, also falling asleep.

Yusuke and Kuwabara brought the demons back to the city. As they carried them, they talked with Yukina.

"So that arrow drained Kurama's spirit energy and kept him from accepting anyone else's while the poison kept him from healing himself or changing forms and made him tired, but not able to feel pain?" Yusuke asked Yukina.

"I believe so, but Kurama would know more about it than I do. He called that poison 'demon slayer.' I wonder if he'll be okay. sigh I guess we'lll have to wait and see." Yukina said in that quiet way of hers.

Kuwabara and Yusuke exchanged glances, not encouraged.

The big centaur that had nearly killed Kurama cowered in fear before the large, shadowy figure in front of him.

"What do you mean he escaped? Didn't you seal that thief's spirit energy like I told you to?" The bellow echoed through the dark, cavernous room and just made the shadowy figure sitting on the throne of bones that much more intimidating.

"Y-yes sir, but his friends helped him and…"

"Friends? What is this? Yoko thieves do not have 'friends.' You must have captured the wrong…"

"No, sir. It was him, all right. I could tell from his spirit energy. But he was in human form. I watched him for weeks before catching him in the forest and I saw first hand that this is true. He had friends." The centaur paused. "They saved him while I went to find him and they killed Goki."

"I was getting tired of that little shrimp anyway. I hope he fulfilled his purpose…"

The centaur ground his teeth. "Yes, he 'fulfilled his purpose.' He died to do it."

"Oh, well. I'll find you another partner. One not quite so annoying."

"Yes, sir." The centaur said stiffly, backing away and out of the throne room. When he was out of ear shot, he said, "I don't want another partner. I want my old friend back. I'll get that bastard Kurama for killing him. I swear it, Goki."

TBC…

Author's Note: I did not have this last scene in the original draft, but I thought people would want to know that it's not just centaur boy. There's someone much tougher lurking in the background, waiting for the boys to slip…

Sorry for taking so long to update…school and all that.

Sorry also for the formatting programs...there are supposed to be breaks there, but ffn screwed them up, as usual.


	6. Kuwabara Confused

Warnings and disclaimer first chapter 

Chapter 6: Kuwabara's Confusion

When they got back to Kuwabara's house in the city, Kuwabara put Kurama on one of the beds in the guest room. He walked back into the living room and saw his sister, Shizuru, talking to Yusuke.

"I'm not gonna let that little fire demon sleep in the house! If he gets pissed off, he'll blow the place up! This place ain't free, ya know!" She took a long drag from her cigarette.

"Kurama, on the other hand, is more than welcome to stay. He knows how to treat a host – with respect!" She kept talking, raising seven kinds of Hell, but finally agreed to let him stay when Yusuke told her what Hiei had done to help Kurama. Then she sighed and gestured for Yusuke to put him in the guest bedroom, still grumbling. Normally he agreed with his sister and wished Hiei would either leave or stop being such a prick. But now Kuwabara sighed as he watched Yusuke put Hiei on the other guest bed. Why had the usually uncaring little demon gotten upset?

Earlier that day, Kuwabara had been at Yukina's house doing what made him happiest: making Yukina laugh and smile. He had just been imitating Yusuke talking back to Koenma, causing Yukina to break forth in gales of laughter when Hiei barged in. He almost growled at Hiei's lack of respect to his love, but she ran to the little demon when she saw his pained expression. Kuwabara would have made fun of Hiei's distress over such a minor wound if Hiei hadn't quickly explained while wiping the blood off of his hands and sounding so miserable. Kurama was hurt and Hiei couldn't help him? That made the little demon look upset enough to cry? Maybe Hiei wasn't the heartless bastard Kuwabara had always thought he was.

Confused, Kuwabara just nodded when Yukina ordered (where did she get that voice of cold, competent authority from?) him to stay there. He sat in a kind of daze from his friends' odd behaviors for a while, and then wondered where they had gone. He shook his head. Duh! They were going to help Kurama. And they had left him here! He'd show them he could be useful in a tight spot! He took down the mental wall he kept up most of the time to avoid constantly sensing spirits.

He closed his eyes and locked onto Yukina's ki. He could feel Hiei's next to her. They were in a forest – he could tell from the small kis of animals that scattered from their frantic pace. He sent his spirit awareness further ahead and felt…oh, no! That was Kurama's ki that felt as weak as a kitten's! He could sense Yususke next to him. _The moron's probably asleep! _Kuwabara thought. It was just like his best friend to sleep when he couldn't do anything. Kuwabara decided to see them, now that he knew where to go. He closed Yukina's door and ran in the direction of Kurama's fading ki. He'd put his mental walls back up, so he was startled when Hiei flickered in front of him a few moments later.

TBC…

Sorry it's been a while since I updated…school has been tough and now I need to start looking for a place to live while I go to law school…life sucks, but I'm at a relatively slow spot, so I figured I'd update. It might be a few weeks before the next update, but I can't help it! Forgive me!


	7. Kuwabara Helps

Warnings and disclaimer first chapter, also shifting POV 

Chapter 7: Kuwabara Helps, Hiei's Imagination, and Kurama's Amusement

"We need you to break down the barrier that's around Kurama," Hiei said sullenly, obviously not wanting to ask the human for help. Kuwabara grinned. This was the Hiei he was used to – independent and only grudgingly asking for help. He thought about telling the little demon he wouldn't help, but thought that Hiei would kill him without a second thought if he refused. (Actually, Hiei might just have broken down in tears and begged, but Kuwabara doesn't have to know that!) So Kuwabara just nodded and was surprised when the fire demon picked him up and started running toward their friends a mile or so away. Hiei's speed made him dizzy, so he stopped trying to see and just closed his eyes until he felt Hiei drop to the ground and release him.

Hiei talked to Yusuke and Yukina a second and then ordered Kuwabara to destroy the barrier. Kuwabara looked at the fox demon and was surprised at how horrible he looked. No wonder Hiei had been so worried! Kuwabara lowered his walls and felt for the barrier. It was amazingly hard to detect, despite its obvious power. It seemed to be trying to hide from him, oddly enough. It shifted, making it hard to plan where to hit it. He figured out that it was centered on the kitsune's heart, so he decided to cut closer to his friend than he would have liked to. He concentrated his spirit energy into the shape of a longsword and slashed down at the spot he had chosen. The barrier shimmered red and disappeared.

He sighed and smiled at Yukina, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside when she grinned back. He watched the drama unfold: Hiei and Yukina channeling life force while Kurama screamed in pain. He felt Kurama put up a shield to keep Hiei from draining himself too much. (He would have thought that Hiei was just being stubborn if he did the same thing in Kurama's situation, but he knew that Kurama genuinely cared about his friend's well-being.) He saw Kurama transform and winced at how little energy the demon emitted. He heard Kurama's story and wanted to kill the bastard who had nearly killed his friend and teammate. Then he picked the kitsune up and walked with Yusuke, who was carrying Hiei, back to the city when his friends finally passed out in exhaustion.

Hiei woke up feeling tired and drained of energy (which he was!). He stared at the ceiling. _Ceiling? I'm not sleeping under the stars! What happened?_ Suddenly, he remembered. _But where am I ?_ He twisted, looking around the room and stopped upon seeing a head of red hair.

"Kurama?" He said bleerily. He sat up and looked at his sleeping friend. No wounds were visible, but he looked like someone who had almost died. He slept deeply. _As deep as the dead sleep?_

Hiei shook his head at himself, then said aloud, "Baka! Look! His chest is…" _Not moving!_

"No!" Hiei jumped out of bed and raced to his friend's side. He hesitantly put his hand on Kurama's chest, over his heart. He sighed. "It must have been my imagination." He startled when he saw the kitsune's eyes open, wide and green and merry as ever.

Kurama woke up when Hiei said his name. He kept his eyes closed, cataloging his aches and pains, dismissing the minor hurts he still had. He held his breath when he heard Hiei talk again. To his surprise, this worried the fire demon greatly. He felt his friend's tension as he checked his heart beat and his sigh of relief when he felt it. _What's going on here?_ When he heard Hiei mutter about imagining things, Kurama openned his eyes, smiling at his friend's worries. He stopped smiling when he saw a tear gem roll down his friend's face and strike the ground.

TBC…

Author's Note: Sorry for the shortness, how long it took to update, and the slight cliffie there. I'll update ASAP. Please review (and say nice things).


	8. Hiei's Guilt and How to Comfort a Fire D...

Warnings and disclaimer first chapter, also shifting POV 

"blah" is talking, while _blah _is thinking

Chapter 8: Hiei's Guilt and How to Comfort a Fire Demon 

The red-head looked at Hiei with such a contrite, worried expression that Hiei regained his composure long enough to snarl, "YOU have nothing to be sorry about!" before closing his eyes, bowing his head, and sobbbing. A handful of precious gems scattered on the floor, unheeded as Hiei wept uncontrollably.

_How could that idiot Kurama be worried about me! Me, the one who felt his life-force fading and did nothing to help. He almost died because of me! Doesn't he realize that? It's all my fault!_ Hiei thought viciously. He stopped sobbing immediately when Kurama put his arms around him, trying to be comforting but only succeeding at looking uncomfortable and causing Hiei another stab of guilt. Suddenly back to normal, Hiei pushed Kurama away roughly and slapped the red-head in the face. Hard.

Kurama looked stunned, then his eyes went dark and cold.

"Excuse me for being concerned. I never knew you could actually cry, much less that you would ever actually do it."

Hiei heard Kurama sigh. The baka got out of bed and walked toward the door.

"Good-bye, Hiei."

Appalled at how he had behaved, hurting Kurama again, Hiei lunged and caught the kitsune's arm.

"Let go of me, Hiei" he said in the coldest, most dispassionate voice he had ever heard from the fox demon. When he didn't immediately release him, Kurama's ki flared, a blinding, angry red.

"DON'T piss me off, boy!" Hiei flinched at the anger in his friend's voice.

"Kurama…I'm sorry." It was Kurama's turn to flinch. He dropped his ki back to normal and sighed. Then his eyes widened. Turning back around to stare at the fire demon, he asked incredulously, "what did you say?"

Hiei took a deep breath and looked into those wide, green eyes.

"I'm sorry, kitsune," he said quietly. "It's my fault you almost died. The only way this could be more true is if I had attacked you myself."

Kurama sucked in a breath. "Could you explain that remark, please?" The kitsune asked, unconsciously shifting into a semi-fighting stance.

Hiei took a deep breath and started talking: "I was waiting for you to come home from school so we could train when I felt your ki. I couldn't feel what you were fighting, so I thought you were practicing. Without me."

Kurama almost laughed at his friend's jealousy, then winced when he remembered why his ki had flared.

"You must have been fighting that…thing that looked like me. I could feel your ki draining from the poison, but I didn't do anything. I practiced without you and the next time I checked, your ki was gone."

Hiei took another deep breath. "I found you with the jagan eye. At first, I was certain that you had…that you were…and it's my fault. I should have gone to help you as soon as I felt you weakening." Hiei choked back a sob, saying, "that was the worst I had ever seen you hurt. I thought…you would die. And it would be my fault."

Kurama was touched and amazed by his friend's story. (And how long he had talked!) _He blamed himself? If he had joined me at once, we probably both would have died. If he wasn't there, no one could have given me life force. And he's sorry! Where's the real Hiei?_

Aloud he said, "I've been closer to death than THAT before, baka."

"Baka! Maybe I shouldn't have saved your ass, you ungrateful little…"

Kurama laughed at Hiei's quick change and the look in his eyes as he realized that he really had saved Kurama. Hiei gave a disdainful little sniff at his friend's lack of decorum and started to get up. Kurama grabbed his arm and said, "wait, Hiei! I haven't had a chance to thank you yet!"

"Yes you did, baka. At the tree as Yoko you thanked me."

"That doesn't count," he said firmly.

He yanked the little fire demon by the arm, forcing him to sit on the bed. Kurama held his wrists (so he wouldn't run away as usual) and sat on the other bed.

"Hiei, if it weren't for you, I would have died back there. If you had come sooner, we both would have died. I should thank Inari everyday that I have a friend like you. If you need anything, please ask me. I owe you my life, and that's no small debt."

The fire demon blushed (Blushed!) at his praise and firmly shook his head at the offer for assistance. Kurama expected that, but also knew that there would come a time, probably soon, that he would get a chance to help his fiery-eyed friend. He just hoped Hiei wouldn't try to fight that…thing on his own.

Author's Note: Please review! I'm not sure I'm gonna write anymore of this fic. I guess that's it…


End file.
